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U.S. to Deploy Strategic Weapons in Japan

The U.S. and Japan have agreed to deploy state-of-the-art strategic weapons in Japan in a bid to build an early warning system against North Korean missiles. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Japanese counterpart Itsunori Onodera announced the decision in a joint press conference in Washington on Monday.

"Today, we made progress on plans to deploy a second TPY-2 radar to Japan, which will help protect both of our nations from the threat of North Korean ballistic missiles,” Hagel told reporters.

The TPY-2 radar will be positioned in Kyoto following one already placed at a Japanese Air Force base in Tsugaru, Aomori Prefecture in 2006.

Using 2.5-3.75 cm wavelength, far shorter than other radars, the TPY-2 radar can identify ballistic missiles within a radius of 4,000 km.

FTI-01, held on October 25 2012, involved two TPY-2 radars, one as a forward-based X-band radar and one as a THAAD fire control radar, located on different islands of the Kwajalein Atoll. (Image source: Missile Defense Agency)

According to Hagel, the U.S. also agreed to deploy in Japan a second squadron of MV-22 Ospreys, the vertical takeoff and landing cargo transport aircraft. It will be deployed in Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture this summer and then transferred to Futenma Base in Okinawa, Onodera said.

The two defense chiefs also agreed that the U.S.-Japan Security Consultative Committee consisting of defense and foreign ministers will meet this year to speed up revision of the guidelines for bilateral defense cooperation in the face of China's military buildup.